


Hocus Pocus

by onechicagogurl



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: BFFP, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onechicagogurl/pseuds/onechicagogurl
Summary: My entry to the October Brettsey Fanfiction Prompt contest.This one was tough because like Sylvie I do not like Halloween. So I had to dig a little deeper for inspiration.I hope you enjoy it.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 15
Kudos: 61





	Hocus Pocus

Sylvie took a deep breath as she gathered her things to head home. Shift was over. At last. A crazy day before Halloween shift that required multiple trips to the shower to clean herself up from frat boys drinking too much and children eating too much candy. After being cancelled last year due to the pandemic the people of Chicago had more than made up for it this year by turning Halloween into a weekend long nightmare. 

“You ready?”

Sylvie looked up to see Matt standing by the door. Despite being together for almost a year now her heart still fluttered when she looked at him. She smiled at him and walked over to take his hand. 

“Let’s go.”

As they walked out onto the apron Sylvie was horrified to see that someone had covered Otis’ memorial with toilet paper and streamers. She and Matt hurried over to clean it up before anyone else could see it.

“Ugh. Halloween is the worst, isn’t it?” Sylvie glanced over at Matt and was surprised by the frown her words brought to his face.

“If you say so.”

“I mean kids doing these awful pranks and getting jacked on sugar. Harrison and Hope used to play the cruelest tricks on me this time of year. You have no idea. Best to stay home if you can.”

“So you’re not going to the costume party tonight at Molly’s.”

It was more a statement than a question and Sylvie didn’t know how to respond. It was times like these that Matt would get a faraway look in his eyes and shut down. On the rare occasion when he and Gabby would fight at the firehouse he would do the same thing. And now he was doing it to her. Any hint of a disagreement and he would disengage. It was why after a year together she was still living at the loft apartment at the Herrmanns and had no ring on her finger as her mother liked to point out. 

She understood why. He was afraid she would walk out of his life if things got too real talking about marriage and family. What if they wanted different things? What if they didn’t meet each other’s expectations? And Sylvie knew she brought her own issues into the relationship. Harrison may be long gone but she still remembered the feeling of being undermined and outright dismissed by him. But, Sylvie thought slightly irritated, what did any of that have to do with Halloween? 

“Matt, if you want me to go to Molly’s just say so. Cindy can help me whip up a costume.” 

“No. It’s fine. I just remembered I have a contracting job to finish today. Won’t be done until late. Come on. Let’s throw this trash out and get you home.” 

Sylvie went to say something but quickly changed her mind. It was no use. She was tired and wanted to take a nap. Let Matt figure it out on his own.

Sylvie spent most of the day on her couch binging Disney+ and texting with Emily. It was Emily who had made her realize that she and Matt had feelings for one another and she desperately needed her sage advice. She didn’t even realize how much time had passed until she began to hear the street outside come alive with early trick or treaters. 

She glanced at her watch and saw it was close to 5 o’clock. As she stood up to stretch her legs she was surprised when someone started pounding on her door. She debated not answering until she heard Herrmann yelling her name and before she could go open the door he was standing in her living room.

“Sorry to barge in on you Sylvie, but Cindy and I are in a real jam.”

“What is it?” Sylvie had quite honestly never seen Herrmann so agitated and that was saying something.

“Cindy’s dad’s has suffered a stroke. We’ve got to get over to Med ASAP. Now the older kids are all at parties and will be dropped off later, but someone needs to take Kenny trick or treating, give out the candy, and watch them overnight. Could you maybe give us a hand?”

“Absolutely. Let me grab my phone and a jacket.”

Within minutes Cindy and Christopher had gone and Sylvie was left in the Herrmanns’ family room with a slightly bewildered little boy dressed up as a CFD engine lieutenant.

“Are you all set?”

“Where’s your costume? Mommy always dresses up.”

Sylvie was not expecting that. She hadn’t dressed up for this ridiculous night since she was ten. But she didn’t want to upset Kenny further so she took his hand and led him back to her apartment. 

“You sit here on the couch and I’ll see what I can come up with, okay.”

Sylvie went to her makeshift closet behind a privacy screen and stared at the jumble of clothes. She spied a box in the corner and pulled off the lid. Her never worn wedding dress from when she was going to marry Harrison. She quickly changed into it and then stepped back out into the room.

“Ta-da.”

“What are you supposed to be?” Kenny asked her warily.

“A bride, silly. Or I know. A Disney princess.”

“You need to be scary. Mommy’s always scary.”

Sylvie thought about that and then went over to her makeup drawer. She pulled out some lipstick and rouge and then headed to the fridge and found some cranberry juice. Silently apologizing to her mother for all the love she’d put into sewing the dress Sylvie poured the red liquid all over the white fabric and then quickly applied as realistic as she could wounds on her face and arms.

“What do you think? I’m a Disney princess you’ve rescued from a horrible accident.” 

“It’ll have to do. But you’re not a Disney princess. That’s yucky. You’re just a bride with bad luck.”

“Gee, thanks kid. Now come on. We’ve got a busy night ahead of us.”

It only took twenty minutes to go around the immediate neighbourhood. Kenny seemed much more excited to hand the candy out at his own door then go up to other people’s doors. She couldn’t say she blamed him. Very strange notion to teach your children not to take candy from a stranger and then design a holiday around that very thing. 

After about an hour the candy supplies were running low and Sylvie figured it was time to blow out the candles in the jack-o-lanterns and turn out the porch light. It was 7 o’clock, and in another hour Luke, Annabelle and Max would start coming home. Kenny looked horrified at the suggestion. 

“Mommy shells out until 9 o’clock. At least. The big kids haven’t even come yet.” 

“We’re almost out of candy.” 

“Mommy sends daddy or Lee Henry to the store when that happens.” 

Sylvie stared at Kenny’s hopeful eyes and realized she couldn’t let him down. She picked up her phone and automatically punched in Matt’s number. He picked up on the first ring as though he’d been expecting her call. 

“Hey.” 

“Matt I’m a huge bind. Could you help me out.” 

Sylvie filled Matt in as best she could without worrying Kenny with any unnecessary information. As she hung up she felt much better. 

“See,” she told Kenny. “Matt is going to fix everything.” 

Kenny seemed to cheer up over that and resumed his duties at the door. Sylvie settled herself back down on the couch to wait for Matt and keep an eye on Kenny. As if by some miracle just as the bowl got empty Matt pulled in the driveway and hopped out of his truck with two Walmart bags full of candy. Sylvie had never been so happy to see someone in her life. She jumped up, and as Kenny let Matt in she flung herself into Matt’s arms and gave him a huge kiss. 

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” 

“No problem,” Matt replied before stepping back to take a look at her costume. “Let me guess. Disney princess maimed in an accident.” 

“Bride with bad luck. Disney princesses are yucky, aren’t they Kenny?” 

Kenny was struggling to open the bags to refill the bowls, but looked up shyly at the two of them and said “You can be a Disney princess if you want to, Sylvie. And Uncle Matt can be your Prince Charming.”

Matt smiled down at the boy and went over to help him. Sylvie loved watching Matt with children. He was so patient and kind, and always spoke to them at their level of understanding. More and more these days she imagined him with their own kids. Helping Scott raise Amelia had definitely made her realize that she wanted a family with Matt. The problem was she had no idea what Matt wanted.

Matt seemed to sense her troubled thoughts and went over to her side. “Everything okay?”

This was clearly not the time or place for such an important conversation. But that same sliver of irritation from earlier today came back. How could he ask that? If it was that obvious to him that she was upset he would know why. She motioned him back towards the family room and put her finger up to her lips to indicate they had to be quiet.

“There was no job today, was there? You wanted me to go to Molly’s, but you wouldn’t come out and say so. Why? Why make me feel like the most important person in the world one minute than shut me out the next. I mean where are we going with this?” 

“I could say the same thing about you. I get it. You hate Halloween. But maybe you might have thought about what I wanted. Why I might have wanted to spend tonight with my girl. You didn’t even consider that did you?” 

“This isn’t about Halloween, Matt. It’s about what we want for our future. Are we getting married? Having kids?”

“That is what tonight was about, Sylvie. I can’t believe you forgot. A year ago today we had our first official date. Remember? We were on shift but I couldn’t wait for the next day so I surprised you with a picnic on the roof. Tony and Capp dragged me for it for weeks afterwards. Remember? So yeah excuse me when I get a little upset that you still hate this insane holiday.”

Sylvie brought her hands up to her mouth in dismay. How could she forget that? The sweetest most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her and she had forgotten.

“Matt, I’m so sorry. Last year is such a blur to me. So much happened and I always felt like I was barely keeping my head above water....”

“I know,” Matt interrupted her. “That’s why I tabled any discussion about our future. To not add more to your plate. I’m not going to make the same mistakes I have in the past. Plus we may have known each other for years but this is all brand new. I liked taking things slow. I liked giving you that chance to find your footing again. That’s why tonight was so special to me. I wanted to see if maybe you were ready for that next step. Give you a happy memory of Halloween instead of all the bad ones.”

“Matt, I...” Sylvie was suddenly aware that they had an audience. Kenny was staring at them intently as all children do when the adults in their lives were acting strange. He was holding what looked like a small heart shaped velvet box.

“Uncle Matt, this was in the bag with all the candy. Is it for the trick or treaters.”

Matt took the box and replied “It must have fell out of my jacket pocket into the bag. Thank God I didn’t lose it. No Kenny. It’s not for the trick or treaters. It’s for Sylvie.”

“Why does Sylvie need a ginormous ring?” Kenny asked perplexed.

“Yes, Captain Casey. Why does Sylvie need a ginormous ring?”

Matt grinned from ear to ear. Sylvie loved that smile of his. It was like the sun coming out after a storm had passed over. He walked back over to her and knelt down on one knee.

“I want to ask Sylvie to marry me, Kenny, and you need a ring to do so. What do you say, Sylvie? Will you be my wife?”

“Yes, Matthew Casey. I will marry you.”

Sylvie blinked back tears as she and Matt hugged. How did she get to be so lucky. All these years of having her heart broken and her dreams shattered only to find that love was right in front of her. Maybe Halloween wasn’t so bad after all.

The end 🎃


End file.
